Chapter 1073
Tan just introduced him to the middle-aged man next to him, wearing glasses and about forty or fifty years old, "This is the Deputy Office of the National Atomic Energy Agency, Deputy Director Fang."
The IAEA? As he shook hands with him in a ceremonial manner, Li Linfei was puzzled for a moment.
Seeing this look on his face, Tan Gang explained, "This time we have come to pay a special visit for something important, about the company you make international water services for."
"Is there hardly anything of interest to you about my international water plant?" Li Linfei couldn't help but ask curiously.
Deputy Director Fang and Tan Gang looked at each other for a moment, and after a moment of silence, the latter gazed at Li Linfei and said, "It seems you don't let people worry about you, Boss Li, you actually gave me such a reply on such a big matter, you want to scare us to death?"
"I'm not saying that, Boss Li, you should really spend less energy on losing your family and more on your career."
Li Linfei: "......"
Deputy Director Fang explained, "It's like this, according to the document report you submitted, Mr. Li, your company is building a desalination plant along with a supporting chemical refinery when you start international water services overseas?"
Li Linfei nodded his head.
Deputy Director Fang continued, "After the desalination of seawater, the separated compounds will be sent to the refinery, then Mr. Li, of the four major water sites you have established in the Middle East, three of the major hub sites will thus become mass production centres for the three major yellow cakes."
"Hmm ...... hmm? Yellowcake?"
Li Linfei hesitated for half a beat and froze momentarily to look at the two visiting men, before reacting a moment later and saying, "Deputy Director Fang, you mean ...... uranium resources?"
Both nodded slowly, and yellowcake is the common name for uranium enrichment.
After a moment Li Linfei suddenly tapped his forehead, so reminded he remembered that this uranium resource, which is more expensive than gold, exists among seawater, and the natural uranium contains only 0.711% of uranium 235.
To trigger a chain reaction to release nuclear energy, one would have to stockpile the critical mass of at least one atomic bomb, that is, at least 15 kilograms of uranium-235 and 10 kilograms of plutonium-239.
This translates into a minimum of 2109 kg of natural uranium.
At market prices, just one gram of raw material like U-235 is worth US$30,000 to US$50,000, much more expensive than gold, and one gram would buy a car, which is simply beyond imagination.
And according to statistics, seawater on Earth contains over 4.5 billion tonnes or so of uranium resources, a huge total, although the distribution is nowhere near as concentrated as uranium mines on land, and the concentration of uranium resources in seawater is very low, with about 1000 tonnes of seawater containing 3 grams of uranium.
But even so, the desalination plants of the Future Technology Group can provide a huge capacity, for example in the contract already signed with Dubai, if in the future they are to be supplied with more than one billion tonnes of fresh water every year.
In other words, it would be able to refine 3 tonnes of uranium resources from 1 billion tonnes of seawater, which in turn would be able to refine 21330 grams of U-235, which at the current market price would be US$1 billion, and the black market price would be even more exaggerated, but of course Li Linfei would not dare to take this to the black market for trade.
In other words, Dubai, a water hub point alone, could provide the nuclear raw material to make one nuclear bomb every year.
The rest were simply three nuclear production plants. If word of this got out, and that was in the Middle East world, people over there would know that there were three places on their doorstep that could produce the good stuff of yellow cake every day.
Li Linfei finally understood why Tan Gang suddenly came to the door personally to find out, this matter is by no means trivial, and will even bring about an unprecedented crisis for the Future Technology Group.
He did not expect that getting a desalination technology out of the system could involve so many big things, and now even nuclear fuel is involved, if this matter is not handled properly then it is really a big deal.
Thinking of this, Li Linfei, who was a little panicked in his heart, said steadily, "In that case, wouldn't I be happy to add new business to the yellow cake by accident? It can bring me billions of dollars of huge revenue for Dolphin International Water every year!"
The two listened speechlessly for a while, and Tan Gang immediately said to him seriously, "Boss Li, this kind of thing can't be taken lightly, it will bring huge trouble to yourself and even to the country if not handled properly."
Li Linfei also stopped at the right time, almost enough, and nodded silently.
Although the potential value of highly enriched uranium resources refined from seawater was enormous, the potential pitfalls and risks were far greater than the benefits, if not completely disproportionate.
Uranium resources cannot be sold on the international market at will; not only are they banned in Europe and the USA, but they are also strictly controlled in their own countries, with no room for negotiation on any terms.
After all, this mineral is capable of creating the most destructive weapons in the known history of mankind. Low enriched U-235 at 3% can be used to generate electricity for nuclear power plants, U-235 at greater than 80% is highly enriched uranium, and highly enriched uranium at over 90% can be used to make nuclear bombs.
Nuclear! The three major water hubs in the Middle East will have access to the uranium resources to make five or six and eggs every year for the foreseeable future, and as the Middle Eastern world's consumption of fresh water resources grows by the day, it will also indirectly increase the production of uranium resources, which will easily provide the uranium resources needed for 30 or 50 bombs within a year by then.
Li Linfei felt secretly fortunate that when he signed the contract, he pinched the right to operate the water plant, including the chemical refinery, otherwise other countries would not all be able to produce nuclear fuel if they introduced this desalination technology and obtained the right to operate it.
When he thought of this, even Li Linfei could not help but draw a cold breath in his heart, secretly thankful that he was not afraid.
It's not a trivial matter when nuclear is involved!
If he hadn't kept his hand in this area, he would have been in a lot of trouble, and the Big Five would have intervened immediately.
The $78.5 billion contract order with the Middle East and other countries would have been a disaster, and there would have been constant trouble in the future.
After a while, Li Linfei said in a deep voice: "What does the top mean? About this matter of uranium."
Deputy Director Fang said with a sigh, "Fortunately, the situation is still under control, the three major water operating points are in our hands, but Mr. Li, you should understand that the water plant you are working on is not just a water plant."
Chapter 1074
Deputy Director Fang took over, "The decision from above is that your company's chemical refinery must have people from my atomic energy agency stationed there, with strict and deadly control over the uranium resources, all uranium resources separated from desalination are absolutely forbidden for you to privately tap on the international market, the uranium resources must be held in trust from above, there are no conditions to negotiate."
Li Linfei nodded affirmatively, he was not stupid, doing so would definitely be condemned by the world, this technology was supposed to save character and make money, he did not want to lose character and lose money.
After thinking for a moment, Li Linfei said, "I think this is definitely impossible to hide, the International Atomic Energy Agency will definitely find a way to intervene strongly, and the other four countries will definitely intervene as well."
Deputy Director Fang nodded and sighed: "Absolutely, we can't afford to be under so much pressure, these uranium resources are strictly controlled by the state, the West will definitely take this opportunity to make a lot of noise about our hoarding of nuclear materials, furthermore it will definitely put a big hat on our head, the key is that this will not just end when the public opinion campaign is over, it will definitely pay for the strong intervention. actual action."
Li Linfei did not have the slightest doubt about this, the public opinion campaign was just lip service, but this is the raw material for making nuclear bombs, no amount of talk will change the fact that the raw material that can make nuclear bombs is produced on a large scale.
It also means that China, which controls the technology, will indirectly hold more and more nuclear bombs in its hands. This is not a war of words, the West as a whole feels a real fear and dread of this, and that before it takes shape, it will definitely insist on a deadly and absolutely powerful intervention.
Thinking of this, Li Linfei muttered, "Is it possible that international water affairs is going to be so dead?"
For the Western world, the best outcome would be that this desalination technology does not exist, and that it exists and cannot be applied on a large scale, so wouldn't the kind of potential threat that is most feared automatically disappear?
For the Western world, this is the best strategy to get rid of it once and for all, and to be able to sleep at night with peace of mind.
Deputy Director Fang shook his head on the spot and said, "Don't worry Mr. Li, your international water service will not die in the womb, can such a large amount of our overseas interests in China be lost just like that?"
Although Future Technology's international water service is a private enterprise, Li Linfei is a Chinese national, and this enterprise is also 100% pure Chinese blood, going out to earn profits overseas is of course where China's overseas interests lie.
The key thing is that this profit is not even Wall Street's.
Moreover, a deal of US$78.5 billion has already been agreed upon, so with such a huge profit, would you just let it go?
The Western world wants to stop this technology from being used on a large scale, which would mean that a viable solution to the Great North China problem would also be affected.
Li Linfei could not help but fall into a long thought, this side can not tolerate, the other side does not agree, there are only two results, one is to directly fall out, the other is to sit down and talk, talk about how to solve this problem, so that both sides can get an acceptable result.
There is no doubt that the yellowcake matter, certainly sit down to talk, and the Western world is the world of commercial capital, especially the United States, East and West completely fall out is everyone can not effectively predict the future and effective control, but also the most underhanded move.
Of course, the prerequisite for negotiation is that both sides are in a position of equal strength before either side can be satisfied with the outcome, otherwise, the table will definitely be turned.
But the two sides already have the conditions of equal status negotiation, thinking of this, Li Linfei heart is determined, yellow cake the way this matter is handled, is bound to be towards the negotiating table to solve.
He asked, "What is the plan from the top?"
Deputy Director Fang said succinctly: "Talk! We can only sit down and talk!"
As expected, Li Linfei's heart was relieved to hear such a result, which meant that Future Technology's international water services would definitely not be aborted, and said, "How do you plan to negotiate?"
This is what he is more concerned about, negotiation is an art of mutual compromise, but also an elegant means of fighting for every inch of profit.
Deputy Director Fang smiled, "Although the Western world has no insight into this yet, it's something they will definitely know about, sooner or later it's just a matter of time."
"But no matter how much we talk, the production capacity of uranium resources is in our hands and we will of course hold the initiative in the negotiations, but we don't fight unprepared battles, so internally we are also planning for a negotiation that is bound to occur in the future, the process may be a bit bumpy, you should be prepared for that as well."
No wonder Deputy Director Fang was so calm and collected, indeed, the initiative was definitely on his side, because even if there was a falling out, China has a long coastline, sits on four major seas and can refine uranium resources from seawater on a large scale, this is where the biggest bargaining chip lies.
"Since refining uranium from seawater is inevitable, the key lies in the distribution of these uranium resources produced." Deputy Director Fang said as such.
At these words, Li Linfei pondered for a moment and then smiled as if he had suddenly come to his senses and said, "In that case, I have to do this business with uranium resources, or not?"
Deputy Director Fang was stunned for a moment, and then he said with a sigh of relief, "You're really a big shot in the business world, you understand everything as soon as you say it."
"That's right, this uranium resource is definitely not ours to keep, even if it is our output."
"The internal prediction for this future negotiation is that the uranium resource must be in the top five only."
"But it will have to cost money to buy it." Li Linfei said with a concise smile.
"That's right, buy." Deputy Director Fang nodded approvingly and laughed, of course you have to pay for it, this rare resource for nothing? Is it possible?
Not cool, robbing? Do you think we are renewing Leah?
Then Deputy Director Fang added: "That's why the top decided to set up an atomic energy technology company, 51% owned by the SASAC, to divest the uranium resources into a separate whole basket."
Domestic ones aside, FutureTech doesn't care about domestic water, the key is international water.
In other words, while the future FutureTech International Water produces fresh water resources, the rights to operate the uranium resources obtained and refined from seawater all go to this state-owned capital-controlled Atomic Energy Technology Company, and the profits from the sale of uranium resources to the other four big ones are shared in proportion to the shares.